Cutting flexible material into pieces having beveled edges



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P. A. FOWLER. CUTTING FLEXIBLE MATERIAL INTO PIECES HAVING BEVELEDEDGES.

No. 349.388. Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK A. FOWLER, OF NET/V HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

CUTTING FLEXIBLE MATERIAL INTO PIECES HAVING BEVELED EDGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,388, datedSeptember 21, 1886.

Application filed J unc 16, 1885. Serial No. 168,846. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. FOWLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCutting Flexible Material into Pieces having Beveled Edges, of which thefollowing is a specifica tachment to some other object, or for thepurpose of ornamentation, or for any desired purpose.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of one formof holder and knife for cutting flexible material into pieces havingabeveled edge.- Fig. 2 is a like view of another holder and knife forthe same purpose. pieces thus cut, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of thesame.

In cutting flexible material by hand into pieces having a beveled edgeit has been customary to have the material lie flat and to hold theknife at the desired angle. I deflect that portion of the material whichlies along the line of out into a given angle and hold it in thisposition, then cut the pieces with a uniform direction of out while theyare thus held, after which the material is released, and, when flattenedwill be found to have the proper bevel at the edge. Various means may bedevised for thus deflecting, holding, and cutting the material. Anapparatus for so doing is herein illustrated and described in order tobetter explain my method or mode of treatment. This apparatus I havemade the subject of another application, the same being No. 178,615,filed September 30, 1885.

My knife, punch, and holder may be secured within any ordinarymachine-as, for instance, a power-pressso that the punch may be Fig. 3is a plan View of one of the' forced into the hollow knife or die, orvice versa.

A designates the hollow knife or female die; B, the punch, and C thefollower inside of the knife and forced upward by the spring 0.

I have represented the tools and the pieces cut as being round; but anydesired shape may be cut by making the tools correspond to said shape ofthe pieces to be out. A sheet of flexible material is placed betweenthe,

punch B and follower C and the two brought together, so that the portionof the material adjacent to the cutting corners a a of the punch Bstands at an oblique angle to the line of movement of said punch. Thepunch is then forced toward the hollow knife or die A, or vice versa.The punch B deflects different portions of the sheet into differentplanes by pressure against the face of the follower, thereby causing aportion of the material to lie at the desired angle to the cuttingaction of the knife, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The stock to be cut isthen held at this angle. The punch, follower, and stock all movetogether until the cutting has been effected by the punch entering theknife. The parts then return and the piece of work so cut is removed,and after being flattened out will be found to have a beveled edge, d,as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It will of course be understood that theshape of the faces of the follower and punch at points remote from thecutting-edge is immaterial, so long as that portion of the materialwhich is to be cut is held at the proper angle. The faces of the punchand follower may, if desired, be different at certain points withreference to the contour of the pieces cut, so as to hold parts of thestock at different angles to the knife. and thus produce a beveled edgewhose angle of inclination varies at different points in the contour ofthe piece thus cut; or the piece may, if desired, have a beveled edgefor only a portion of its contour.

While I prefer at all times to use the hollow knife or die A, it isevident, that when the material is held as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 ahand-knife may be employed to run around the punch and make the cut,using the sides of the punch and follower as a gage for the knife, andthat in such case the direction of Ice cut would be the same as when outwith the knife A, and would also be uniform upon all sides. Even with ahand-knife and such a holder pieces having beveled edges may b out veryrapidly. I am aware that it is common in cutting paper to clamp thematerial and hold it thus clamped while it is being cut, and that aprior patent shows and describes a clamp having inclined faces, betweenwhich a pile of cards is clamped so as to tip the cards into an inclinedangle to the path of the cutter, said cards lying perfectly flat oneupon the other without being deflected at any point. All of said art ishereby disclaimed. This process of cutting cards differs from my processbecause it does not involve deflecting any portion of the material, andby it only straightedged work can be cut, and that only upon one side ata time. My process deflects that portion of the material which liesalong the line of cut, while the remainder of the material amass may lieflat or otherwise, and when the material is so deflected and held thepieces are by one operation out throughout the entire portion to bebeveled, whether that portion forms the edge of a round, square, orother shaped Witnesses:

FRANK MALEY, FREDERICK A. Errors.

